Featly et. Al. - BV4275 T47 1672

162 1`heChrVidnf riffor,ÿ; ór; Romstix: 4 Aeontinual Enemy. whereindeath is an Enemy. Iob ta.ts, In rafpeE&of its attendants. t Sicknefs,&c. Heb. ts. 2Coi 6. Pfal a9.6. Iccometh armedwith afling,thefling of deatbfsfin. Some makequa+ion whether if Adam had never finned,he fbould.ever have died. gut methings the Apo81eS .Paul putteth it out of queflion ; Byone mans difobediencefn came into the worlds and by fin death. All thofedeaths that S.Anflinreckonechup: Firftwhen the Soul isdeprivedof God, feparaced from him. Secondly, when the Body is feparated from the Soul. Thirdly, when the foul is feparated from the body, and from God; and fuffereth Torments for a time. Lallly, when the foul is feparated fromGod, and rejayned to the body, to fuller Torments eternally. All thefe are the recompence , and reward of fin. Therefore Death coming, and being an Enemy thus armed, (whatfoever kind of Death it be ) we may well fay it is a f,airitual Enemy, and the more fpieituali the more dangerous. Fourthly and laftly,itisetcontinual enemy. And it is the more dangerousfor that. It lays hold of us in the womb,and never leaves us, till it hath brought as to the grave. Bcloved,we do not only die whenwe die, but all the time.we live, alfoon as we begin to live,we begin todie. AsSenecafaith,Everydaymedie,becaufe every day famepart of our life iegone. As a candle,ic is no fooner lighted,but prefently is begins to waffe ; as an hour.glats, it is 00 fooner turned, but prefencly the(ands begins to tun out. So ourlife,ic is noboner breathed,bnt prefently it begins to vapour out. As theSca,what it gaineth in one place, it lofeth inanother ; fo our life, what we gainone way, we lofe it in another s look what is added to ir, fomuch is took from it ; the longer a man liveth,the lets he hach to live. Deathdoth by us,as Jacob did by Efan,caccheth us in the womb, and neverleaveth us. So we fee it is a Common, a Secret, a Spiritual, a Continual Enemy. Next we are to confider; How and wherein death fhewech it fell an Enemy. What death deferveth at our hands,tobethusaccounted and feared. Fearful and ter- rible it is, tha a is certain ; So Ari flotle, It tithe mall terrible of all terrible's. Bildad in Job, calleth i c the Kingof 7errours. What dock Death bring withit to make make it fearful ? I anfwer, Death hathfundry concomitants, and companions that attend it, that it a formidable i nemv. FieF, theHarbingers that come alongwith it; Sicknefs, and Difeafes, Infirmities, old Age, and Difficulties. Thefe are all fearful to Nature, and through fear of theft, Death keepeth men all their life in bondage. They make our lives, as it were a life, rather like a life, than a life indeed. So that howfoever the Apoftle Paid in anotherplace, as it were dying, and behold we live. There death hath the tan- guano, and are the Ecce : Yet here we may fay,aa it were living, andbeholdwe die: Here lifehath the tanguam, and death theEcce. Life is but éeit were a life, it is but the fhadowof a fife that man walketh in : Man malieth in avain (hadom, and difguietethhimfelf in vain. It is eruc,it lighted) not on all alike,fomc it comechon as a Lyon,and breaking their bonesfrommorning toevening,it makes an end of them : To others it is as a Math in the garment, fecretly in their lives,by degrees, infenfibly, pining and confuming them. Howfoever, what Harbinger foever it bringech, it vifiteth us with many touches and twiches, before it come : Falling pell-mell, thick and three-fold onus, when they come. In refpeE} of thefe, is may be faid to be an Enemy. Secondly, the diffolucion that Death bringeth. For it diffolveth the frame of nature; It divorceth, and feparateth the Soul from the Body, thofe two Compa- nions, that have lived fo lovingly together, and perhaps have lived a long time together. This is another thing that makes Death look likean Enemy. Friends and Companions that have lived long together are loath to part a We tee in experi- ence, old Folk commonly are more loath to part, when they are old, than when they are young. Now there is none neerer than the Soul and Body e There is none have lived, fo long, or fo loving : It mule needs be tedious for thefe toparr, and be 2. Diflolution of the frameof nature.

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